Legends Can Be Now & Forever
by Lestats Cherie
Summary: "Two and two go so close together.. Whether there is hope that is torn apart.. In the words of all that is singing.. Hand in hand the beginning is at the start"


_The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hands of man – Author Unknown_

Sunrise is one of the few beautiful moments nature has blessed us with, but sunset outshines it by the subtle purple and pink pastel colours. As I glanced ahead at the sun slowly falling beneath the horizon, a warm feeling rose from my stomach and ignited my cheeks with its flame. Below, small creatures and delicate flowers frolicked in the light breeze that blew softly through the overhanging trees. Such a wonderful place was this, and yet those who shared four walls with me back home would never understand how special it had become, to me. Over several days, I had been fleeing from my small cottage near the palace, just to come here and watch nature take its course. On my travels, I had befriended a fair few woodland creatures. But my favourite of all was a boy named Jack. He was very much a forest child, and spent all of his time walking and talking with the animals in this wood. Having known him only a short while, we had yet to be properly introduced. I merely watched him from a distance most of the time, fearful of his ways. Jack was not a scary character, oh no. He was as gentle as a heavenly dove, and yet the way in which he held his anger inside of him frightened me enough to hold me far away from contact. I treasured the idea that one day we might finally meet, and he would brush away all of my worries with the voice that so magically calmed his woodland friends. Each day, I would hide within a small clearing at the edge of the forest, and watch with wonder as he played with and spoke to these creatures. It was an enchanting sight to see.

As a strip of the sun was still visible just over the horizon, I raised my hand to my eyes at the gentle flash, smiling brightly when Jack appeared over the hills not too far away. He came bounding over the pebbles and jumping over patches of grass. Invisible to his eyes, I crept silently through the clearing and wandered a little deeper into the wood, being sure to remain hidden. Beneath me, a twig snapped and caused a soft echo to bounce around me. I stopped moving and froze on the spot, afraid he might have picked up on the sound, but when I looked over toward him, he was nowhere to be found. My stomach that was once calm and collected, broke out into miniature butterflies with worry. What if he had heard the sound? Could he have heard it at all? Where is he now?

"Who are you?" came a voice from somewhere up above.

Frightened, I threw myself to the ground and buried my head in my hands, rocking back and forth like a small child who had just been told off. My reaction must have shocked the poor boy, as he jumped swiftly from a branch and landed directly in front of me.

"Please, forgive me. This is your home, I should not have come here" I said, slowly pulling my hands away from my face.

His eyes sparkled as he looked at me, and mine did just the same. His stare was piercing, yet it was impossible to turn away. It was almost as though he had never seen a human girl before, which made me smile despite the situation. My lips curled upwards and I felt my cheeks heating up as he moved a little closer. He was inspecting me, or so it seemed. When he reached out a hand toward my face, I gasped, scaring him and causing him to jump back in fear.

"Oh, it's alright. I won't hurt you" I said, softly.

Doubtful, but still highly intrigued, he crawled a little closer once more. His hand came up again and he ever so lightly twirled one of his fingers around the curls in my hair. I tried very hard to stifle a laugh, but his behaviour was much too adorable to ignore.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Bluebell. Pleased to meet you, Jack" I said, holding out my hand.

He tilted his head a little toward his shoulder and looked at me with surprise. I suppose he was wondering how I knew his name, but there would be time for that a little later. Now however, it appeared I needed to teach him a few simple gestures. Jack looked at my hand as though expecting it to do something mysterious, and he looked more than a little troubled when it did nothing.

"Jack, you need to hold out your hand" I said, grinning.

He did as I asked, almost knocking my chin as he thrust his hand toward my face and smiled brightly, proud of himself. I cackled at his cuteness and pulled his hand down with mine, shaking it up and down slowly so he understood. Still somewhat confused at first, he frowned at what was happening, but soon recovered and smiled genuinely at me. I returned his smile and found myself clinging tightly to his hand, not wanting to let go. Despite his obliviousness to more common gestures, he seemed to be entertained by the fact that my hand would not drop his when he tried to pull away. His grin broadened and he moved closer again.

"Bluebell, my favourite flower" he said, now getting much closer than I would have liked.

Whilst my legs were underneath me, I found it terribly difficult to move back far enough, away from his approaching face. I could only go so far without breaking my back, and just as I thought that might happen, he stopped a few inches away and revealed his tongue.

"Why, you cheeky little devil" I said, smacking his arm lightly.

"Jack, do not find me weird, but I have been watching you for a short while now, and I was wondering…" I said, unable to finish my sentence.

His hand came up and covered my mouth so I could not utter another word. I was very confused as he kept me quiet a few moments longer, before revealing what he wanted to say.

"I know" he said.

His smile was as bright as the sun would shine, and when he stood and offered his hand to me, I took it and beamed as he pulled me along. We spent some time talking about his life, the friends he has made within this wood, and those he had lost. I felt my heart shatter when his face fell at the mention of his dearest woodland companion having bravely lost its life some years back. As I watched him, his hand still holding mine whilst he pulled me alongside him toward our destination, I marvelled at how beautiful he was. His brown hair hung just a little over his shoulders, and his eyes were like stars under the light of the moon.

Jack turned to me as we walked over a small stream, watching as I stumbled across and tried in vain to keep my shoes from getting wet. Apparently, the pebbles were only friendly with Jack, for he had crossed them without slipping once into the cold water.

"What is so funny?" I asked, hurt that he was now laughing at my misfortune.

He said nothing and grinned sheepishly as he reached for my other hand and helped me across the stream. It was only a shallow one, and was rather narrow, but my clumsiness got the better of me more often than not it seemed. I was thankful just to reach the other side without stepping in it again. Thanking him, I released my hand from his and bounded through the overgrown flowers up ahead. I was so lost in my own world that I did not hear Jack calling out to me, telling me to slow down and come back to him.

"Bluebell!" he shouted, but it was merely a faint buzz to my ears.

Before I could take another step, I spotted something truly magnificent just across the way. In the middle of a clearing surrounded by sakura trees sat a gorgeous white fox. It had eyes as blue as the ocean, and paws as black as night. It's fur coat was a wonderful shade of snow, and it simply lay there as the small sakuras wisped down toward it, coating it as a blanket would.

"Bluebell, come away from there" I heard Jack call.

Ignoring his cries for me to fall back and leave the fox alone, I crawled toward it ever so quietly, hoping I would not disturb its peaceful perch beneath a tree. The tree under which it lay had thousands and thousands of sakura flowers ready to fall from it. My hands became tainted with grass stains and I just knew my knees would be the same after this, but still I moved closer and closer to the beautiful creature, desperate to get a better look. It was an unfortunate quality of mine. Wanting and needing were never easy to tell apart when it came to reality, at least not with my way of thinking. If I saw something I liked and it was within reach, I had to have it, or in this case touch it.

"Bluebell" Jack called again, but before I had chance to ignore him this time, he landed on me.

Shocked, I lay ever so still on my back with my eyes tightly closed, afraid of whatever had pounced on me like that. My hands shook as I brought them up to shield my face, but then a warm voice eased the tension.

"It's alright, Bluebell. It's Jack" he said, laying one of his hands over mine.

"Jack! You frightened me" I said, scowling in a very unladylike manner.

He only laughed at the look on my face and attempted to lean a little closer once more, but I rolled and sat up before he had chance. The hurt on his face was clear as day, despite the gloomy shadows caused by the trees. As I looked at him, I smoothed down my skirt and rid my knees of the faint green they had accumulated. I stood from my spot carefully, so as not to scare off the fox that was still laying carelessly a few feet from us both.

"Jack, will you take me to Amaranthine Lake?" I asked, hopeful.

Without a word spoken, he grabbed my hand in his and pulled me back in the direction we had come from. I smiled along the way until he brought me right back to where we had met just a short while ago. I frowned at him and begged with my eyes, afraid that my words would not do justice.

"You deliberately disobeyed me" he said, turning his back on me and stepping out of the clearing and into the darkness of the trees.

I fought back tears as I looked all around me, unable to see where he had gone and finding it hard to define his location based on his voice. He continued to belittle me and after a short while, I gave up and fell to the ground in defeat. His words rung through my head and brought back memories I had long since forgotten. It would take another lifetime to be rid of them now, and all the while I only imagined how right he was. I had disobeyed him by choosing to ignore his cries for me to stop, and yet I went ahead anyway. My foolish nature was no match for his otherworldly personality, and I knew in that moment we could never be friends, especially if he thought of me as someone completely disobedient. I was seldom this way, which I wished he only understood. As he kept on tossing questions and sarcasm at me, further tears slipped down my cheeks.

"Very well, Jack. I will leave now, and you will never hear from me or see me again" I said.

I stood from my spot on the ground as the clouds up above blanketed the moon for a split second. The wood went dark; pitch black and silent as death. Caring nothing of any danger in that moment, I stormed off in no particular direction, not knowing where I was going or where I might end up.

"No, I'm sorry. Please, I'd like to see you again" Jack said, his voice faint somewhere behind me.

I turned around fully, hoping to see him standing there, but found him hanging upside down from a low branch just above me. Startled, I let out a shriek and almost broke his nose as I attacked his face with my hands. I realised only a moment later that he wasn't going to hurt me, but he had already jumped down from the branch and was now crouched down beside me as I'd fallen to the ground. My head swam with so many thoughts that I could not keep up. His beauty, his voice, his caring nature, all those thoughts told me what they wanted me to do, and yet I could not bring myself to do it.

Almost as though he read my mind, he leaned down toward me. My breath caught in my throat momentarily as he lingered no more than an inch from my lips. As the seconds passed in silence, the only sound that could be heard was the beating of our hearts. Mine, a thumping rhythm against my chest, and his, a calm and steady beat. It dawned on me when his lips connected with mine that he must surely know what he is doing, or else his eyes would not have told me everything earlier when we were first introduced.

"Bluebell, will you come back?" he asked, pulling away and sitting beside me.

Though a little dazed still from our childlike kiss, and very smitten with the boy beside me, I managed to sit up from my laying position and look at him with very serious eyes. My face remained blank and uncaring, but my eyes told a thousand stories, just as his did. It took him a while before he realised I was merely playing games with him. He beamed as though the small child inside of him had just been given a box full of candy, and all I could do was smile back.

"Of course, Jack. I will be back tomorrow.." I said, hoping he would accept my decision to return so soon.

With a smile and a nod, he pulled me from my sitting position as he heaved himself off the ground also. He held my hands in his for the longest time, looking longingly into my eyes until breaking both connections with a fading grin.

I watched him race off toward the hills once more, delighting in his movements and ability to be so carefree, roaming the woods knowing nothing of unhappiness. How I longed to be like him, to spend my days and nights surrounded by the blissful feel of nature and all its wonders.

Perhaps one day, even soon, he will welcome me into his home with open arms.


End file.
